{{short description|Uruguayan footballer (1913-1995)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox football biography |name=Severino Varela |image= Severino varela boca 1943.jpg |image_size= 200px |caption= Varela in 1943 |fullname=Severino Varela Puente |height= |birth_date={{Birth date|1913|9|14|df=y}} |birth_place=Montevideo, Uruguay |death_date={{death date and age|1995|7|29|1913|9|14|df=y}} |currentclub= |clubnumber= |position=Striker |youthyears1= |youthclubs1= |years1=1932–1935 |clubs1=River Plate Montevideo |caps1= |goals1= |years2=1935–1942 |clubs2=Peñarol |caps2=74 |goals2=46 |years3=1943–1945 |clubs3=Boca Juniors |caps3=67 |goals3=43 |years4=1946–1947 |clubs4=Peñarol |caps4= |goals4= |nationalyears1=1935–1942 |nationalteam1=Uruguay |nationalcaps1=24 |nationalgoals1=19 | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's football}} {{MedalCountry|{{fb|URU}}}} {{MedalCompetition|South American Championship}} {{Medal|Winner|1942 Uruguay|}} {{Medal|RU|1939 Peru|}} {{Medal|3rd|1937 Argentina|}} }}

'''Severino Varela Puente''' (14 September 1913 &ndash; 29 July 1995) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as a striker. With 15 goals, he is Uruguay's all-time top scorer at the Copa América.<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/uru-recintlp.html rsssf: Uruguay top goalscorers]</ref>

==Career== Varela started his playing career in 1932 with River Plate Montevideo.<ref>[http://www.cariverplate.com.uy/zelclub/historia.php Severino Varela in River Plate's history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506180505/http://www.cariverplate.com.uy/zelclub/historia.php |date=2010-05-06 }}</ref> In 1935, he signed for Peñarol where he was part of the team that won four successive league titles between 1935 and 1938.

Varela was part of Uruguay squad which won 1942 South American Championship, and remainis as third joint top scorer in the history of Copa América.<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/tabless/sachamp.html rsssf: Copa América topscorers]</ref>

In 1942, Varela joined Argentine side Boca Juniors for $32.800. Boca also transferred Emeal and Laferrara to Peñarol as part of the transaction. During the first year of his career in the club of La Ribera, Varela continued living and working in Uruguay (where he shipped each Sunday after the match). Due to the many goals he had scored for Boca Juniors in that year, the club offered him to sign a new contract with a much better salary, but under the condition he had to move to Buenos Aires to live there and to train with the rest of the squad. Varela refused the offer explaining that he could not leave his current job, because, unlike football, it would be his job for the rest of his life.<ref name=informex>[http://www.informexeneize.com.ar/biografia_severino_varela.htm Biografía de Severino Varela - Informe Xeneize]</ref>

[[File:Severinovarela palomita1943.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Varela scoring his most famous goal against River Plate in 1943.]] As a footballer, Varela was a great header, skilled to control the ball, with a fierce attitude to play. He also never missed when shooting a penalty kick. His wearing of a white beret on the field gave him a distinctive range. During his tenure in Boca Juniors, he scored 43 goals within 3 years. 16 of them were headers, 14 from penalty kicks (he did not miss anyone) and 13 of free-kicking shots.

Varela gained recognition amongst Boca Juniors' fans because of his goals to River Plate (playing a total of 6 derbies and scoring in 5). The most remembered of his goals happened in September 26, 1943, when Varela headed the ball after a long pass by Carlos Sosa, diving into the goal and scoring before the ball went outside the field. This goal (defined by ''Crónica newspaper'' as ''El golazo del misterio'' - ''The great goal of mystery'') allowed Boca to win that match 1-0 and therefore the Xeneizes became new Argentine champions, acclaiming Varela as its new great idol.<ref name=informex/>

After winning the titles of 1943 and 1944 with Boca Juniors, the club asked him for the salary he wanted to earn: Varela replied that "he would not take the money he could not win by himself". He left Boca Juniors as a free agent.<ref name=informex/>

Once his run in Boca Juniors was finished, Varela returned to Peñarol where he played out his career.

==Career statistics== ===International=== :Source:<ref name="auf">{{cite web|title=Severino Varela - AUF|url=https://www.auf.org.uy/severino-varela/|accessdate=26 November 2020}}</ref> {| class=wikitable style=text-align:center |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan=8|Uruguay |1935||1||0 |- |1936||2||0 |- |1937||6||5 |- |1938||1||1 |- |1939||4||5 |- |1940||4||3 |- |1941||0||0 |- |1942||6||5 |- !colspan=2|Total||24||19 |}

==Honours== ;Peñarol *Uruguayan Primera División: 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938

;Boca Juniors *Argentine Primera División: 1943, 1944

;Uruguay *South American Championship/Copa América: 1942

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{in lang|es}} [http://www.historiadeboca.com.ar/jugadores.asp?CodJug=130&AnioInicial=1905&AnioFinal=2008&OpTipoTorneos=6&=Buscar Boca Juniors statistics] * {{in lang|es}} [http://www.historiadeboca.com.ar/biojugadores.asp?CodJug=130&OpTipoTorneos=6 Boca Juniors profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520090735/http://www.historiadeboca.com.ar/biojugadores.asp?CodJug=130&OpTipoTorneos=6 |date=20 May 2008 }}

{{Uruguay Squad South American Championship 1937}} {{Uruguay squad 1939 South American Championship}} {{Uruguay Squad South American Championship 1942}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Severino}} Category:1913 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Footballers from Montevideo Category:Uruguayan people of Galician descent Category:Uruguayan men's footballers Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Uruguay men's international footballers Category:Peñarol players Category:Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo) players Category:Boca Juniors footballers Category:Uruguayan Primera División players Category:Argentine Primera División players Category:Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Category:Copa América–winning players Category:20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen Category:Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina